New Members FAQ

What is Association?

Your association is your first ritual ceremony in Phi Kappa Tau. This ceremony is conducted publicly on the UW campus. After this ceremony, you will be an associate member of Phi Kappa Tau, and you will be given an associate member badge. Once you are Associated, the Association Period begins.

What is the Association Period?

During the Association Period, you are as much our brother as any initiated member, and you will be respected as such. The purpose of the associate period is to further get to know you as our brother, and ensure that you can hold up to the academic and moral standards of Phi Kappa Tau before being initiated.

We do not use the term "pledge" for our associate members.

What are Big Brothers?

Half-way through the association period, associates choose a "big brother" from the initiated members of the house. Your Big Brother gains no special privileges or authority over you, and instead agrees to take added responsibility for you as a fellow brother, such as helping you fulfill your pre-initiation requirements.

What are the Pre-initiation Requirements?

During the associate period, you will be asked to perform certain tasks in order to qualify for initiation. These duties will never, in any way, compromise your safety, beliefs, or morals. All members of our chapter, current and past, have performed these tasks prior to initiation. We'd like to make it absolutely clear that you will not be hazed in any form. These activities are simply tests to ensure that you will be able to commit time, energy, and effort to the fraternity while still maintaining reasonable academic standards.

2.7 GPA: Maintain a 2.7 GPA during your quarter as an associate, or have a 2.4 cumulative GPA.

Associate Class Philanthropy: With the help of the initiated members, the associate class (as a whole) will coordinate a project to raise money for our national philanthropy.

Associate Class Project: The associate class will perform a project to improve the living structure of the chapter, such as an art project or mural, or other types of improvements.

Associate Paddle: The associates must each construct a wooden paddle as a symbol of trust. These paddles must then be signed by every associate or initiated member of the chapter. This paddle will not, at any point, be used on any person, be they associate members, initiated members, or otherwise. It is purely symbolic.

Chapter Interviews: The associates must conduct individual interviews of every associate and initiated member of the fraternity. This allows the associates to familiarize themselves with the members of the chapter, and helps to establish social ties to older members of the fraternity.

Membership Orientation Class: Over the course of the associate quarter, associates will attend a membership orientation class taught by the membership orientation officer. This class is designed to teach you our local and national history in order to prepare you for the national exam.

National Exam: The Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, nationwide, requires that its associate pass an exam in order to initiate. This exam tests the associates' knowledge of the fraternity's history, and of certain fraternity policies.

What happens after the Association Period?

At the end of the association period, the initiated members of the fraternity must vote in order to initiate each associate individually. If the associate has fulfilled all of the requirements of the associate period and receives a passing vote to initiate, they will go through the initiation ceremony to become a fully initiated member of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.